Thailand: Thai Street Food (Desserts, Sweets and Drinks)

Updated on September 12, 2016

Thai lollipops | Source

N.B: Please note, all my articles are best read on desktops and laptops

Introduction

Think Thai food and one tends to think of the world famous street markets and street stalls with the sights and sounds of sizzling frying pans and the aromas of cooking, an attack on all the senses which many will find difficult to resist. And think Thai food recipes and one thinks rice and noodles, seafood, spicy hot papaya salads and curries, herbs and sweet and sour flavours.

What one doesn't immediately think of are sweets and desserts and chocolate or fruits and drinks. And yet, desserts and cold snacks available at street stalls in Thailand are every bit as varied as the cooked hot foods and even more enticingly displayed. And there's no doubt in my mind that in a country where the temperatures in any month of the year and throughout most hours of the day can exeed 30°C, thirst quenching drinks, light desserts and cold treats can be at least as important, not least to the poor Western tourist unused to such sweltering heat.

This is the second of two pages looking at Thai street food. The first looked at the hot, cooked cuisine for which the country is so famous, and for which roadside stalls offer a range of dishes of surprising quality. But this second page looks at some of the treats and desserts and the cold snacks, and the extraordinary creativity which goes into their presentation on the streets of Thailand.

Thanks

My thanks to Wanna Sonkunha and Fern Butsawa for helping to identify the foods in some of these photos. Big thanks also to Wanna for contributing twelve of the thirty photos on this page. These are credited by clicking on 'Source' under each photo.

About This Page

No doubt some of the less adventurous who travel to Thailand on vacation from Europe or America will be more attuned to a Western diet of burgers and fries, roasted meat and veg and the like, and may be less inclined to try some of the more exotic ingredients of Thai cuisine or the spicier recipes. But even if you are not so keen on cooked Thai dishes, I guarantee that the appearance of some of their desserts and cold snacks will make any self-respecting sweet tooth or chocoholic develop a craving they will find hard to resist! And that really is what this article is about - the presentation, even the artwork, not to put too fine a point on it, which goes into the produce to be found on a simple roadside stall. And also the cultural interest in the preparation of these desserts. There will be no detailed recipes - this is a photoessay, and the emphasis is on photos and videos. Videos are linked to from YouTube, and my thanks to the contributors of these. All the photos were taken by the author on several trips to Thailand, or by Wanna - my favourite Bangkokian resident :) Enjoy!!

Waffles - Shredded pepper, banana, chocolate and blueberry flavours. In touristy areas descriptions will often be in English as well as Thai | Source

Street stalls selling fruit in Bangkok | Source

The Variety Of Street Food Outlets In Thailand

Street food is a major component of life in Thailand. You can't escape it. In the early morning there will be stalls along major commuter routes supplying the locals with their breakfasts as they go to work, and throughout the day there will be stalls providing cheap and quick snacks for their lunch breaks or for anyone out shopping. Into the evening, and food stalls lighten up the air with golden red flames blazing under a stir-fry wok or a BBQ grill, and with the sounds of fish or vegetables bubbling in hot oil, serving the commuters as they go home, and the tourists as they head out for a night on the town.

And it's not just on the roadside. Street markets - both day and night markets - are commonplace in the cities of Thailand, and these will often feature a whole chain of vendors all serving food from small trolleys and from stalls or from larger kitchens. Vendors may also be found in public places such as train stations selling refreshments to travellers, and even in shopping malls the food courts offer an equivalent, if more air-conditioned, option.

For the tourists these street food outlets do not merely offer a quick and cheap alternative to restaurants; they also offer an insight into authentic Thai cuisine, catering as they do to the locals and offering a range of foods, the like of which may be hard to find in Thai restaurants and impossible to find elsewhere in the world. Street food is a cultural experience and a visual experience for the tourist as well as a taste sensation.

More about the variety of street food can be found on the companion page to this one.

Fruits in the Chatuchak Street Market in Bangkok. Next to the strawberries are yellow peeled mangos and mixed fruits in plastic containers | Source

The Four Food Experiences - Quality, Variety, Presentation and Preparation

Thai cuisine is famous the world over - famous for its fresh, locally grown ingredients and for its blends of spices and herbs, and the hot and spicy, sour and sweet flavours they produce.

But speaking of 'sweet', not so many people perhaps will associate Thai food with sweets and desserts. But maybe they should, for reasons of quality, variety, presentation and preparation.

The quality, as with the cooked foods, is high - much higher than is usually the case with street food in the West - but it must be sampled by the reader for proof of that.

The variety of desserts both traditional and modern, and from all the regions of Thailand, is considerable, and I hope at least some impression of that will be apparent on this page.

The presentation of the food on the stalls is hopefully also apparent on this page in some the photos Wanna and I have taken.

Finally, there is preparation. Thai desserts as sold on the street offer a genuinely authentic cultural experience as the tourist may see local recipes being prepared and created entirely from scratch. That aspect will be covered in the next few sections.

The Cultural Experience

Many Thai deserts are quite unique to that part of the world and are certainly unlike anything one may encounter in Europe or America. But the simplicity of some of these recipes together with the need for freshness also means they will often be prepared right there on the street in front of you. That makes any walk along a line of street stalls an interesting experience in its own right. And if you buy a dessert, then watching its preparation from its beginning to its edible conclusion is fascinating, adding to the enjoyment of the experience.

Several of the examples shown in the following sections illustrate this. The first photos show a dessert known locally as 'khanom krok'. In English it is known variously as Coconut Pudding or Coconut Rice Dumplings, Coconut Pancakes etc a Thai recipe often prepared on the street. Khanom krok consists of a crispy cupcake with a soft coconut filling. Special khanom krok trays are used with hemispherical metal moulds, in which a little oil is heated. A mix of coconut milk, rice, sugar and flour is then added and swirled around to coat the lining of the moulds and to form a base layer. Then more coconut milk, sugar and flour is poured in to create the filling. At this stage, toppings such as sweet corn or onion may be added for colouring or additional flavour. Further steaming of the pudding continues until the ouer layer is golden brown and the filling is soft but solid.

A Lesson In Making Khanom Krok

Unlike most of the food highlighted here, khanom krok is usually eaten hot, but it is a dessert, and a light snack, and it is, I am sure, well worth tasting on a visit to Thailand.

(Note that the Thai alphabet is very different to ours and so translations to the English alphabet can only be based on pronunciation. Khanom krok for example may also be spelled kanom krok, ka-nom krok etc).

The coconut and rice pudding 'khanom krok' in close-up. The sweet corn topping is not strictly necessary, but makes the pudding more visually attractive. I have not tried it myself, but it looks very inviting - my next visit to Thailand beckons | Source

The preparation at a stall of 'roti saimai', a Thai cotton candy burrito pancake | Source

'Roti saimai' is a characteristically Thai version of what we in the UK call candyfloss, and what in America is best known as cotton candy.

Preparation of this dessert was seen by the author at Ayutthaya, the historic former capital of Thailand, and the location most associated with authentic roti saimai. According to some, the roti saimai freshly prepared on the street stalls here is still the best that can be bought anywhere. Wafer thin crepes of flour and eggs are made and filled with delicate strands of spun sugar, like candyfloss. The crepe is then folded over on itself to resemble a burrito.

Both the crepes and the candyfloss come in different novelty colours and flavours. This 'cotton candy burrito', as it is sometimes called, may also be known as 'sweet angel hair' or 'silky threads'. All terms are appropriately descriptive of this very sweet dessert.

The finished 'roti saimai' - both the burrito-like roti and the candy floss filling - come in a range of colourings and flavourings | Source

Mung Bean Desserts

Yellow mung beans are a common ingredient of traditional Thai dishes, but they are also the main ingredient of a very sweet and fragrant dessert known as 'Look Choup', shown in a photo here. Looking for all the world like jelly beans, but much more fun to make, look choup are intended to appeal to children. The alternative English name of 'delectable imitation fruits' gives the game away. Mung beans are mixed with sugar and coconut milk and then pounded and cooked to produce a thick paste. The paste is then moulded into the shapes of miniature fruits, much as one would do with modelling clay or plasticine. Food colouring is applied to make the 'fruits' look more authentic. Each 'fruit' is then dipped in an agar jelly / water mix. Imitation fruits made this way include oranges, apples, watermelons, bananas, mangoes, chilies, dragon fruits and many others. Look choup may seem like a novelty, but the sweet has a very long history of tradition.

Decorating A Dragon Fruit Shaped Loop Choup

'Med khanoon' is another dessert made of mung beans, and the first stage of its creation is similar to that described for look choup. The beans are mixed with sugar and coconut milk, and cooked till they become paste-like. This paste is then moulded into a pellet shape and dipped into egg yolks, and coated in hot syrup before being cooked for a little longer. The resultant snack is sweet and nutty, and is eaten at room temperature.

'Med Khanoon' - yellow mung beans are used in Thai flavouring, but can also be eaten as a dessert, blended with sugar, coconut milk and egg yolk and syrup. The finished sweet is shown in close-up on the right | Source

Potato crisps on a stick | Source

Potato Crisps (Potato Chips) And Flower Petal Crisps

This section shows two variations on what we in the UK call 'crisps' and what in America are known as chips.

First there is a treat which was seen being prepared at Chatuchak Street Market in Bangkok. A special kitchen utensil - a type of hand cranked cutter - is used, with a potato impaled upon a wooden skewer. Turning the handle on the cutter, wafer thin curls are sliced in a continuous spiral, and whilst these are still attached to the stick, they are fried before being sold for consumption. Sounds interesting? The preparation certainly is, but the snack is basically curly crisps on a stick!

A second kind of Thai fried crisps involves slightly less preparation, but the ingredients used are rather more unusual than potatoes. On the companion page to this one I described the exotic Thai dish of fried insects, eaten hot. But how about fried flowers, eaten as a cold snack? 'Dok mai thot' means 'fried flowers', and involves coating edible petals in a flour and water batter, and deep frying them in a pan of oil. Sometimes described as a 'flower tempura', the resultant fried petals are eaten like potato crisps, perhaps with a dip such as chili sauce.

Many types of of petal including rose petals,and even orchid petals are picked for frying, but illustrated here are the modified leaf bracts which provide the colour in that most ubiquitous of exotic tropical plants, the Bougainvillea.

Fried Bougainvillea. Fried flowers are chiefly associated with Southern Thailand. These were photographed on Ko Kret (Koh Kred) - an island in the Chao Phraya River | Source

'Khanom Chan'. Hopefully the two toned layers in each cube are apparent. But sometimes the layers are not merely two-toned, but multi-coloured | Source

A Pink Version Of Khanom Chan

And One More Dessert

'Khanom chan' is one of the most traditional of desserts, once served on joyous ceremonial occasions, such as weddings or career promotions, but now available to all, every day of the year. Why was it originally prepared for auspicious occasions? Khanom Chan means 'layered cake' which describes perfectly its distinctive feature - bands of differently toned sweet and sticky dessert. Traditionally nine layers were put together to create the dessert, and 'nine' in the Thai language sounds very like the Thai word for 'progress' - as such Khanom chan was served to people who were progressing in life.

Once again those familiar ingredients of coconut milk, sugar, water and flour (tapioca and sticky rice flour) are used, mixed together in a bowl, but then separated into two portions. To one of these portions, a blend of green pandanus, sugar and water, is added. A small quantity of the green portion is then poured iinto a pan to create the base layer, and this is steam-cooked until partially congealed.Once sufficiently solid to avoid intermixing, the same quantity of the colourless portion is added to form the second layer, and steamed to solidify. The process is then repeated until nine layers have been created. Once set, the dessert is then cut into cubes with green and colourless layers.

That is the traditional method, but today anything goes. Sometimes jasmine extract or other flavours may be added to alternate layers, and sometimes food colouring may be added to different layers to create a multi-coloured khanom chan. Different shaped moulds may also be used to appeal particularly to children.

Chocolates anyone? Not a wrapper in sight - just multicoloured letters, hearts and other symbols. (See also the image at the end of the page - my signature in chocolates, as arranged for the photograph by my girlfriend) | Source

Thai caramel - bright and stripey like the lollipops in the opening photograph | Source

Chocolate Treats? Caramel Treats? Or Something Else?

If the preparation of desserts such as those described above have a uniquely Thai flavour, one may think that when it comes to chocolate, there's not quite so much that can be done with it to make it original. Maybe not with the taste, but there's certainly plenty that can be done to present it in a novel way. Take a look at the chocolate bites shown above, photographed in a Bangkok night market. Letters, symbols, even cartoon faces. There does seem to be some pride in these hand-made treats, and that does not extend only to chocolates with coloured letters and pictures on them. Caramel sweets, lollipops and the like may also be seen, the caramel sweets glistening like little jewels.

A Particularly Elaborate Version Of Custom-Made Ice Cream Rolls

A brief mention should now be made of ice cream. By its nature ice cream is generally pre-prepared and stored in freezers and for the most part is no different on a street stall to that bought in a supermarket or shopping mall. However, there are vendors, notably in the tourist resorts, who will create rolls of ice cream on plates chilled to -35°C. Dairy milk or soy milk is mixed with berries, nuts or chocolate on the plate, and as it freezes, the blend is rolled and the rolls are placed in tubs for sale.

Presentation is everything in the display of many sweets and desserts in Thailand. The aim is to make them stand out, to appear unique, to appeal to children, or may be just to show care and attention to detail. I must admit when I checked out the photograph below, some time after taking it at a street market in Udon Thani, my first thought was that these were yet more coloured chocolates. But no, they are little sushi cakes.

Sweets? .... No, this time the multicoloured little morsels are sushi - mostly rice with seaweed or raw fish. The price was 5 baht per cake - about 10 pence or 15 U.S cents. Be aware of food safety however, if fish is used - ensure the sushi is fresh | Source

Fruits - Familiar ...

For first time visitors to Thailand, who are a little wary of the range of local recipes and desserts on offer, the sight of familiar fresh fruits may be very welcome. Apples and oranges, grapes, water melons, bananas, pineapples, pears, coconuts and all other fruits to be found in Western supermarkets or greengrocers are also to be found here.

One word of caution - be aware of hygiene in street markets and roadside stalls when heat - and flies - are common inconveniences. Freshly cut fruit or fruit wrapped in cellophane as in the photo of oranges below, may be preferable to fruit eaten whole and possibly washed in tap water. (The only time I have been sick in ten visits to Thailand was the result of food washed in tap water - not fruit sold in a city, but salad washed in a village, but the principle remains the same - tap water may cause upset stomachs).

Presentation - Oranges are not the only fruit in Bangkok's Chinatown - to make them stand out that little bit more, they are wrapped in attractive cellophane | Source

Durian - one of the most popular, yet pungently smelly, fruits! The whole fruit is shown above, and below it is sliced and cellophane wrapped ready for sale | Source

... And Unfamiliar

The range of fruits available to buy in Thailand is huge, and many are tropical varieties formerly uncommon, but now increasingly available in the West - mangoes, guava, papaya and dragon fruit for example. But even in this day and age, there are many which are still relatively unknown in the West.

What about some of these other fruits which visitors to Thailand will encounter on street stalls? What about jackfruits and durians, longans and langsats, mangosteens, rambutans and rose apples? These will all be encountered on street food stalls and they will be of interest to any tourist looking to explore new taste sensations whilst vacationing in the country.

Try them all and see what you think!

Purple mangostenes contain a sweet, tangy white flesh to be eaten raw, or turned into a juice. Thailand is the largest producer and exporter of mangostenes in the world | Source

Drinks, Western and traditional. Behind the bottled water and the Coca Cola are the more authentically Thai coconuts | Source

Drinks

In a hot climate cold foods and light desserts and even fruit, will never of course be enough. It is important to also keep the liquid consumption up. Again the usual Western diet of alcohol (including Thailand's own brands), fizzy drinks and bottled juices are available, usually stored and often chilled not in a fridge but in a big tank of icy water. Water should be drank in quantity, and I'll repeat the advice above concerning this - drink bottled water rather than water from the tap. (In a similar vein one should also be careful of ice. If the ice is frozen tap water, it may be best avoided. But ice chunks with a hole in them are commercially produced, and these are safe).

There are also the less familiar tropical juices, including watermelon juice, pomegranete, guava, mango and of course, the ubiquitous coconut served straight from the shell of a coconut. Milky iced tea is also a common and very popular beverage, and so are iced herbal teas, with lemongrass, pandanus, chrysanthemum flowers and other flavours. All should be safe to drink given the precautions about ice mentioned above. Smoothies and shakes can also be bought. You will never want to be far from a drinks stall wherever you go!

Pomegranete fruit and pomegranete juice on sale in Chinatown | Source

These packets made of banana leaves contain sticky rice, yeast and malt sugar and are served cold. The price each - 15 baht - is roughly 30p (45 U.S cents) | Source

For The Tourist

Street food in all its forms is well worth trying if you are on vacation in Thailand. Cooked meals and hot snacks are featured on another page and these are an essential part of the Thai cullinary experience, for their quality, for the value for money they represent, and for the authenticity of their preparation.

But even more interesting perhaps are the wide range of sweets and desserts which are unique to this part of the world, many of which may be prepared in the street before your eyes. Some of these are quite amazing to see, and perhaps deserve an award for presentation as much as an award for taste.

But whether or not they are custom-made or pre-prepared, when you are exposed to temperatures of +30°C every day, they may also prove more welcome to even the most dedicated and sophisticated foodie as the heat takes its toll and the need is for cooling refreshment.

Whatever the reason for trying it, take advantage of your visit to Thailand, check out the street stalls and sample a few of the enticing sweets, desserts, fruits and drinks on offer there.

Flamboyantly decorated gateaux - common perhaps in a quality high street patisserie, but these were on a street stall in a night market | Source

Copyright

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I'd Love To Hear Your Comments. Thanks, Alun 16 comments

Greensleeves Hubs 2 months ago from Essex, UK Author

stevarino; First Steve, my apologies for not replying sooner to your request. I intended doing so, but then it slipped my mind. Yes by all means share. I would appreciate a link back to this page or to my profile, but I hope that these street food ideas from Thailand help to complement your blog. Cheers, Alun

stevarino 2 months ago from East Central Indiana

Great looking ideas here, I'd like to share of these on my food blog, Fusion-Culinaire.com, with your permission, of course.

Greensleeves Hubs 2 months ago from Essex, UK Author

cmoneyspinner1tf; Thanks Treathyl. Much appreciated. These are just a small selection of the sweet recipes on offer at roadside stalls, many of which are prepared on site - maybe I'll have to publish a second page of desserts :)

Greensleeves Hubs 2 months ago from Essex, UK Author

CYong74; Thanks Cedric! Glad you liked it. Incidentally I just recently returned from Thailand - and also Singapore, which I believe is your home town. Lovely place to visit!

cmoneyspinner1tf 2 months ago from Austin, Texas

You are so right! When I think Thai food, sweet stuff never used to come to mind. But thanks to this HUB, it will from now on. :)

CYong74 2 months ago from Singapore

Such a colourful and delicious hub! You made me very hungry!

Greensleeves Hubs 2 months ago from Essex, UK Author

sallybea; Thanks for commenting Sally. Thais seem to like putting as much colour as possible into their dishes. Perhaps when it comes to street market desserts it's a way of making them stand out from all the competition on the other stalls. And it demonstrates a laudable attention to detail. Alun

Greensleeves Hubs 2 months ago from Essex, UK Author

AliciaC; Cheers Linda. I've never been much of a 'foodie', but after several visits to Thailand, I've become more and more interested in the whole culture of street food and its preparation. Anyone who visits the country really should spend time just wandering through a street market, watching what goes on and sampling a few of the treats. Alun

sallybea 2 months ago from Norfolk

Wow! What a feast of colours, gorgeous food article. I have not experienced any of these delights but this article certainly is food for thought.

AliciaC 2 months ago from British Columbia, Canada

This is an enjoyable and very colourful hub, Alun. I'd love to explore Thai desserts as well as other types of food from Thailand. Your descriptions and photos make the food sound and look very interesting!

Greensleeves Hubs 2 months ago from Essex, UK Author

FlourishAnyway; Cheers Flourish. Appreciate the mention of the photos. Quite a few were taken by my Thai girlfriend who doesn't have as much photographic experience as I do, but I think she's got a good eye for a picture.

A couple of the things you say strike a chord with me. Although I can't always resist Coca Cola or milk shakes, cold watermelon juice is probably the drink I have most of all when I'm in Thailand. It is genuinely refreshing, leaves no aftertaste, and of course it's better than most for keeping the weight down! :)

Greensleeves Hubs 2 months ago from Essex, UK Author

Kyriaki Chatzi; Haha thanks Kyriaki! Khamon Chan is quite a labour intensive dessert - you can't afford to leave it alone, because you have to keep adding layers, and then steaming for just the right length of time to get the desired consistency before adding the next layer.

But give it a try - I see from your profile, you do know quite a bit about decorative desserts. I shall take a longer look in due course. :)

FlourishAnyway 2 months ago from USA

This buffet of sweets is intriguing and I'd find it hard not to sample a bunch of candy treats. Your photos are beautiful and add to the appeal. I think I'd love to try watermelon juice. I always lose weight when I travel because I'm not real adventurous when it comes to "real" food. But I can usually be counted on for bread and sweets.

Kyriaki Chatzi 2 months ago from Greece

It was love at first sight! Khamon Chan stole my heart. To be honest, I might give the pink version a shot. Thanks for sharing!

Greensleeves Hubs 2 months ago from Essex, UK Author

MsDora; Thanks very much Dora. Watching some of them being created right in front of you is very interesting - next time I go to Thailand I will certainly be sampling some more of the many street desserts on offer!

MsDora 2 months ago from The Caribbean

Thanks for sharing these good-looking Thai food miracles. Hard for me to choose which one I would like to try first. Your pictures are so inviting.